< Matthew 22 >
1 And Jesus answered again by similitudes, and said:
2 The kingdom of heaven is like to a royal person, who made a feast for his son.
3 And he sent his servants to call those that had been invited, to the feast: and they would not come.
4 And again he sent other servants, and said: Tell those invited, Behold, my entertainment is prepared, my oxen and my fatlings are slain, and every thing is prepared; come ye to the feast.
5 But they showed contempt, and went away, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise;
6 and the rest seized his servants, and abused them, and slew them.
7 And when the king heard of it, he was angry; and he sent his military forces, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8 Then said he to his servants, The feast is prepared, but they who were invited were unworthy.
9 Go ye therefore to the terminations of the streets; and as many as ye find, bid to the feast.
10 And those servants went out into the streets, and collected all they found, both bad and good; and the place of feasting was filled with guests.
11 And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who was not clad in the festal garments.
12 And he said to him: My friend, how camest thou here without the festal robes? But he was silent.
13 Then said the king to the servitors: Bind his hands and his feet, and cast him into the outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For the called are many, and the chosen are few.
15 Then went the Pharisees and took counsel, how they might ensnare him in discourse.
16 And they sent to him their disciples, with domestics of Herod, and said to him: Teacher, we know that thou art veracious, and teachest the way of God with truth, regardless of man, for thou hast no respect of persons.
17 Tell us, therefore, how doth it appear to thee: is it lawful to pay capitation money to Caesar, or not?
18 But Jesus knew their wickedness, and said: Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
19 Show me a denarius of the capitation money. And they brought to him a denarius.
20 And Jesus said to them: Whose is this image and inscription?
21 They say, Caesar's. He saith to them: Give then Caesar's things to Caesar, and God's things to God.
22 And when they heard it they were surprised: and they left him, and went away.
23 The same day came Sadducees, and said to him: There is no life of the dead. And they questioned him,
24 and said to him: Teacher; Moses commanded us, that if a man should die childless, his brother must take his wife and raise up seed to his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first took a wife, and deceased; and, as he had no children, he left his wife to his brother.
26 In like manner also the second, and the third, and up to the whole seven.
27 And after them all, the woman also herself died.
28 In the resurrection, therefore, to which of those seven will she be the wife? For they all had taken her?
29 Jesus answered, and said to them: Ye do err, from not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection of the dead, they do not take wives, nor are wives given to husbands; but they are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as to the resurrection of the dead: have ye not read what was spoken to you by God, who said:
32 I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob? Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard it they were astonished at his doctrine.
34 And when the Pharisees heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they assembled together;
35 and one of them, who was expert in the law, to tempt him, inquired:
36 Teacher, which is the great command in the law?
37 Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the great and first command.
39 And the second, which is like it, is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
40 On these two commands hang the law and the prophets.
41 And while the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them,
42 and said: What say ye respecting, the Messiah? Whose son is he? They say to him; The son of David.
43 He saith to them: How then doth David, by the Spirit, call him Lord? for he said:
44 The Lord said to my Lord, Seat thyself at my right hand, until I place thy enemies under thy feet.
45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
46 And no one was able to give him an answer? And from that day, no one dared to question him.
